Environmentalist David Brower dead at 88

BERKELEY, California (CNN) -- David Brower, who helped to shape the face of the environmental movement, died at his home in Berkeley, California, on Sunday night. He was 88 years old.

Brower served as the first executive director of the Sierra Club, a
position he held from 1952 through 1969. During his tenure, the organization's membership rose from 2,000 to 77,000.

In 1969 he founded Friends of the Earth along with the League of
Conservation Voters and initiated the founding of independent Friends of the Earth Organizations in other countries. Friends of the Earth now operates in 63 countries.

Through the years, Brower had a profound impact on America's wildlands by
helping to create national parks and seashores in Kings Canyon, the North Cascades, the Redwoods, Great Basin, Alaska, Cape Cod, Fire Island and Point Reyes.

He also played a major role in keeping dams out of Dinosaur National Monument, the Yukon, and the Grand Canyon, and in establishing the National Wilderness Preservation System.

In 1982, Brower founded the Earth Island Institute, an organization that works to bring peace, environmental and social justice together.

Brower has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize three times -- in 1978, 1979, and 1998 -- jointly with Professor Paul Ehrlich of Stanford University.